


I Wish You Were Never Alone

by Allwalkfree



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Awkwardness, Family Bonding, Gen, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 17:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18145304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allwalkfree/pseuds/Allwalkfree
Summary: Diego awkwardly trying to mend fances with Vanya by being surprisingly thoughtful and sweet





	I Wish You Were Never Alone

Diego had been standing in front of Vanya’s door for what felt like hours. He knew he needed to knock soon and get it over with, but his body refused to move an inch.

Taking a shuddering breath, he steeled himself for the upcoming conversation, before slowly lifting a fist and gently rapping on the door.

“Hey Vanya,” he said, voice barely above a whisper, causing him to scowl. “It’s me Diego, can I come in?”

There was quiet on the other side of the wall for a while, and just as that moment was starting to stretch into something uncomfortable, Vanya’s soft voice carried out the door and over to him.

“The door is open!”

Flinching slightly, and cursing himself for that, Diego took a deep breathe. “You got this,” he muttered to himself. “You got this Diego.”

Clenching his hand around the strap of the bag he was carrying, he took hold of the doorknob with the other, and gently twisted it open.

Stepping into the room without a sound, he let his eyes glide over the space. Taking in every detail like the trained fighter his father crafted him into from blood and pain.

‘ _It was a nice room_ ,’ he concluded, after finishing his sweep. ‘ _Simple yet elegant’_. Nothing seemed out of place, everything was neat, and the soft colors decorating the room, gave the whole space a sense of openness. _‘I guess that most have been what she was going for,’_ he thought.

His eyes finally landed on the occupier of the room, or the occupiers this time, as he spotted Five curled up in Vanya’s bed with a thick book clutched between his fingers. He seemed very absorbed in what he was reading, but you could never really tell with Five.

The owner of the room herself was sitting on the carpeted floor, fiddling with her Violin, and leaning into the side of the bed. Her hands that were doing something just a minute ago, were still at the moment, and her gaze fixed on him.

Diego swallowed.

“Um, Vanya,” he said, voice unable to carry out the words he wanted to say. Cursing himself under his breathe, Diego clenched his fists, and tried again.

“I, I just wa..wa…,” he shut his mouth with a click. Teeth accidently nicking his tongue, making it sting.

 _‘Why now?”_  he thought bitterly.  _‘Why the hell now.’_

“Did you want to tell me something Diego?”

His eyes focused back on Vanya, and her open gaze, her understanding look, and her gentle yet tiny smile, made him want to curl into himself and hit something until it broke all at the same time.

“I just,” he said, words more firm this time. “I just wanted to gi…give you this.”

With that, he stretched out his arm, bag dangling from his gloved finger tips.

Vanya placed her Violin carefully back into it casing, before scooting over a bit closer.

“What’s that?” she asked, curiosity coloring her tone.

“It’s,” he said, eyes snapping over to Five, who was now sitting on the bed watching them both carefully, book temporarily abandoned. “It’s something yo…you, I thought you m…might wanna have.”

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself not to retreat, not to run away and hide, and instead tried to straighten himself out and stand a bit taller.

Vanya and Five shared a quick look at that.

Five lifted an eyebrow, Vanya shook her head, Five pursed his lips, Vanya frowned, than Five’s nose crunched up, and Vanya smiled.

All this took place in less then a minute.

“Fine,” Five exhaled. “I have better things to do anyways.”

With that he put the book aside, bookmarking it carefully, leaned over to press his cheek against Vanya’s hair, whispered something softly to her, waved at Diego, and promptly vanished.

For a moment, both Vanya and Diego stared at the place their brother had been just a second ago.

It was still so surreal to have him back. Alive and breathing, that Diego just didn’t know what to do with himself sometimes. His brother was back, but Diego just didn’t know how to hold onto him. How to protect him. How to prevent him from ever disappearing again. That gnawing fear still kept him up most nights.

Sighing softly, he finally moved his eyes to fix on his sister. She was already looking at him, and the slight frown coloring her face, spoke of uncertainty and curiosity.

“You wanted to give me something Diego?”

“Oh Yes,” he said. Picking back up the bag that he apparently put on the ground without noticing.

Sticking his hand in it, he brought out a VHS cassette tape.

“I have a couple of these,” he mumbled, handing the one he was holding over to Vanya so she could inspect it a bit further.

“I thought you might want to watch them or keep them, I don’t know.”

“What are they?”

Shrugging, Diego scratched at his hair, not looking at his sister, but rather choosing to examine the carpet he was standing on. “Me and Ben used to go to your concert before, you know,” he said. “And of course, we couldn’t sit at the front or anything, cuz dad wouldn’t give us the money to come see you, hell he didn’t even know, so me and Ben we used to sneak in from the back, and watch you play.”

Bringing his hand down to rummage some more in the bag, he tried not to pay attention Vanya’s shocked face.

“Ben and I, we used to tape your performances, just in case you ever wanted to re-watch your highlights or something. And we were planning on giving them to you after we collected enough, but then he d…died and there just never was a good enough time to do it after that, so yeah” With those final words, he looked up and gave Vanya the most helpless of smiles. “I just thought you might like to have them now.”

Vanya just stared at him. Eyes wide, mouth open, and face as pale as the day she realized Five would never come back home.

“You watched my concerts?” she whispered.

Diego shrugged at that, feeling embarrassed. “Yeah, I mean you’re really good, and Ben always enjoyed hearing you play.”

“You watched me play.” Her voice was colored in disbelief and surprise.

The shock in her voice stung something deep within his core and tugged at something in the back of his heart, but Diego shoved it back brutally.

“Yeah,” he said instead.

At this point, tears had started leaking from the corners of Vanya’s eyes, as she clutched the cassette close to her heart.

“Please don’t cry,” Diego said, waving his arms desperately, looking around for help  _‘Maybe Five could come back?_ ’ “I didn’t mean to make you cry. Please Vanya.”

She just smiled at him then. A wobbly, tear-filled smile, but a smile non the less.

‘ _How long ago was it since Vanya smiled at me_ ,’ he wondered. And the thought alone almost made him cry too.

Lifting a hand, to wipe away the tears. Vanya brought the tape closer to her eyes and stared at it.

“Thank you, Diego,” she said, not taking her eyes of the tape. “Thank you.”

“No worries,” he said, putting the whole bag on the ground, and taking a step back, unsure of what to do next.

“Am just gonna,” he said, pointing a thump at the door, but when she didn’t say anything back, he slowly turned around and pulled on the doorknob.  _‘It went better than I expected_ ,’ he told himself.  _‘Just let her be_.’ But something inside him was unwilling to leave like this. ‘ _What choice do I have though_ ,’ he thought.

But just as he was about to leave the room, Vanya called him back.

“Do you want to watch them with me?” she asked. Her voice tentative and slightly uncertain, but she sounded as sure of herself as ever, which made Diego turn around.

Locking eyes with his sister. His wonderful, brilliant sister, who had been alone for so long, he smiled back at her. “For as long as you’ll let me,” he said.


End file.
